The listing gave Cisco's stock a little pop Tuesday, nudging the price up 27 cents, or 2%, to $15.72 in pre-market trading. It rose from there to close at $16.14.

Not every analyst was jazzed about Cisco's new server plan, however.

In a note Tuesday, JPMorgan analyst Ehud Gelblum reaffirmed his neutral rating on Cisco, citing new concerns about the direction of the business.

"We believe Cisco is entering a dangerous new world by locking horns with HP and quite likely IBM ( IBM)," Gelblum writes. The effort "could take five-to-seven years just to break even on the earnings per share line, let alone generate a penny of incremental earnings," Gelblum concludes.